Amika Mobile Blog

A key mechanism that can also be effective with isolation zones is locking down a room or set of rooms within an area that can be accessed from a hallway. This is important not only for schools but for any facility where someone from the public is likely to walk into the facility with a gun for whatever reason. There are many lockdown mechanisms on the market today for schools, hospitals, etc. As zones are separated to secure an area, the locks in the areas where people can be protected should be activated automatically to safeguard students or others in those rooms. Lockdowns need to be regularly practiced in all academic institutions. At the moment, they are regularly practiced in many schools (not all) but should be mandatory for all Universities and Colleges as well.

As shootings continue across the globe and as we mark the anniversaries of these tragic events, it is important to think about better protecting the public as well as the kids who may suddenly find themselves in the crossfire. An important consideration is to ensure that there are zones isolation mechanisms to protect against shootings. This implies that in a school, the front area should be completely isolatable from the various classrooms. In another recent shooting at a daycare in Quebec, the shooter walked into the front office, shot at a target then walked into an adjacent classroom and shot an innocent teacher who was protecting the students. Had the front office been isolated from the classrooms, that teacher would still be alive today.  …Sue Abu-Hakima, CEO Amika Mobile

As we ponder the tragedy at the Boston Marathon that includes loss of life and battlefield-type injuries with shrapnel at Copley Square, we must salute a city and its people known for their resilience, strength and acts of kindness towards each other. We salute you Boston and send our thoughts and prayers to all those affected by the tragedy knowing that you will fight through this battle as you have many throughout history. ….Sue Abu-Hakima, CEO Amika Mobile

An intruder in a school will typically enter through the main doors and find a place to hide – such as in the basement, a closet or even a bathroom. Many attacks on school children have resulted from an intruder somehow gaining access through the main, side or back door. This is one reason why there should be only one main entrance and the main entrance to a facility needs to be separated so that visitors and the reason for their entry to the school verified. Main entrances to most schools typically allow people to turn left, right, go straight or even go upstairs or downstairs. Such free access should only be granted to students and staff from the main entrance after they badge in. A main entrance in a secure facility would require visitors to be in a holding area before being allowed to roam after their identity and purpose for their visit is verified by security. Some schools now have metal detectors that their staff and students are required to pass through before entry. Others have access control badges.

A basic security and safety strategy is to always ensure a secure perimeter. What does this mean? It implies that any areas adjacent or near the school need to be fenced and secured. This does not have to be obtrusive. A chain link fence could secure the perimeter around the school and ensure that the school playground is within the perimeter keeping the kids safe within it. Additional technology like cameras would be useful to ensure that the area is monitored. Furthermore, if there is a danger of someone driving a car into the fence and hence into the school, then strategically placed concrete barriers would be a deterrent.

Many schools subscribe to the open door policy. While this is great in a society where children are not kidnapped or sometimes removed from school against their will, this is no longer a practical option. School shootings and violence are now prevalent in many schools all over the world. Schools where shootings are a regular occurrence as sadly they are in the US, access at various entrances should be controlled. Back doors in many schools are now locked and only opened from the inside. This is OK if no plan is afoot to let in an intruder or a shooter, but even this now needs to be controlled with access control technology. In some cases, this requires ID cards or badges and may soon be simplified with more RFID integration with mobile phones which are prevalent in the general population.

As I look at the data from Slate.com for 2013, I am astounded by how many shootings have occurred since the Newtown tragedy in the US. There have been 3,027 US deaths since Newtown due to shootings. As a specialist in the area of public safety and security, I thought it best to look at ways for schools to protect themselves. The first one is vigilance. According to a December 2012 report from the National School Boards Association NSBA.org, every classroom has 1 student with a mental health issue that requires some form of attention or treatment. Without vigilance to the issue of mental health that students face, school shootings are likely to continue. The report has many recommendations to assist schools and is well worth a review.

An area where there is a growing need is lockdowns. Sometimes, a shooter or danger exists in a facility and a lockdown needs to be initiated. It is important to ensure that the lockdown does not place more people in danger but not allowing them to get out of a fire or some other dangerous situation. However, in live shooter incidents, a lockdown can save many lives as long as the shooter is kept out of a full classroom or room full of possible victims. Tracking the shooter moving through the facility and then causing a lockdown that would block them from others would be ideal. This scenario is becoming more real with today’s physical system security systems integrated with event or rules-based logic that would allow an event to trigger a lockdown.

… Sue Abu-Hakima …CEO Amika Mobile

Another area I have written about in the past is the importance of 2-way communication over SMS, Email, Voice, etc. Sometimes in a critical or emergency situation, an alert recipient is in an area where they cannot get to safety. As such, it is very important to allow them to respond to the alert to get first responders to them.

… Sue Abu-Hakima …CEO Amika Mobile

Often while users are in their own facilities or at public venues such as airports, train stations, hospitals, etc. they can watch TV or read headlines as they wait. This is an ideal place to ensure that recipients in alert situations are informed using proper tickers adhering to security organizational codes and colors. As such, if a situation arises in the public venue, the tickers or displays become another means of safeguarding recipients.

… Sue Abu-Hakima …CEO Amika Mobile

The prevalence of social networking environments like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others allows users to jump on the network and quickly Tweet a text on a situation. The danger of relying solely on these networks to alert recipients in dangerous situations is that some people on the Internet today like to send out hoax tweets and messages. As such, an organization needs to ensure that any alerts it sends out are authenticated with its recipients and the organization quickly gets on the social media feeds to ensure the correct and proper information is disseminated to avoid mass panic and making situations worse.

… Sue Abu-Hakima …CEO Amika Mobile

For several years now, I have emphasized the importance of WiFi which is fairly ubiquitous in the enterprise and public facilities such as airports, shopping centers, entertainment venues, etc. As users with mobile devices move through the public WiFi areas, it is important to alert them to any emergency situations to reduce the congestion in those areas as well as safeguard their lives.

… Sue Abu-Hakima …CEO Amika Mobile

10 Enterprise Requirements for Critical & Emergency Alerts: #5 VoIP Integration

Many organizations rely on callout capabilities to reach employees and safety and security personnel by phone. An area which must also be integrated is the local voice system which is inevitably a Voice over IP or VoIP system. Some vendors will deliver alerts through paging on the VoIP device as well as a text alert on the display. These alerts will be limited to their equipment. It is important to consider generic delivery to VoIP when choosing a vendor. Amika Mobile has made this a high priority with its various partners.

… Sue Abu-Hakima …CEO Amika Mobile

It is with great sadness at Amika Mobile we learned of the school shooting today at Sandy Hook Elementary School where 20 children and 6 adults are dead. This is one of those terrible tragedies that marks us with sadness for all the families and community involved. Our thoughts and hearts are with you.

… Sue Abu-Hakima …CEO Amika Mobile

Any organization will have a number of communications avenues with its users. Some users carry their mobile phone everywhere. Other users typically work at a desk communicating through email or on the web. Others will move around the organization. Some organizations such as those serving the public in healthcare or government will have visitors and waiting rooms. Most of these waiting rooms have some sort of overhead display to keep people occupied while they wait.  Many organizations have public announcement systems that they can announce over.  The only thing we can predict is that we will not know what end users are typically doing in an emergency or critical situation. This is why it is essential to alert on all layers during critical and emergency events. Systems such as the Amika Mobility Server will support 16 layers including getting out to social networks for organizations to control the messaging about their alerts.

… Sue Abu-Hakima …CEO Amika Mobile